By Charles Okogene
This, perhaps, is the fate of Toba Oke who until Friday November 22, 2019 was the chaiman of Ifako/Ijayi Local Government Area before he was pushed down from the Olympian Height by the members of the State House of Assembly.
Oke, a two-time local government chair (as he is fondly called by his cronies) who returned to the post some three years ago had his second term tenure cut short by the all ‘powerful’ legislators in the house.
That he was suspended by the house did not come as a surprise to some residents of Ifako/Ijaiye, especially those that reside in Iju/Ishaga and Obawole axis, the two areas in the LG whose development has been arrested. While they cannot point to what they have gained from the state government government since 1999, the condition of the area has also been made worse by Oke and a certain Demola Doherty who also chaired the LGA in the days of Babatunde Fashola as governor.
However, what came as a rude shock to the excited residents when the news of his suspension hit town, was the fact that Oke who parades himself as an apostle in one of the white garment churches was suspended for alleged financial recklessness among other offence.
A former staff of African Independent Television (AIT), before he ventured into politics, he was once one of those behind Sir Shina Peters in his days of ‘asiko youth’ (time for youths). All of the above helped to seĺl his candidature and made a lot of people to trust that he will do well when he gets there. However, Oke proved them wrong as he not only turned a colossal failure but allegedly diped his fingers into the lean treasury of the LGA, going by the reasons for his suspension.
While we wait for his next move against the house, majority of the residents of the LGA in Obawole and Iju/Ishaga that this reporter spoke to, are of the opinion that he deserves what he got and that his case may serve as a wake up call to others.
They all agreed that in this his second coming and almost a year to the end of his tenure, he has achieved nothing in the area.
Most of them point to the rehabilitation work of his street, Akinite, which had been ongoing for more than two years not to mention other LG roads and street in the area as an example of his failure.
According to one resident, “a man who cannot repair his own street, how can he repair that of others.
“The roads around the Dana Air crash area, which are all the responsibility of the LG was fixed by the then government of Fashola even when the man was still in office. So what can he point to as his legacy. In terms of development, the LG will be in the class of less developed LG in Lagos State.”
